Shikamaru Nara (Jet'ika)
| hometown = File:Leaf Village_Logo.svg.png }} | previous affiliation = | team = | previous team = | occupation = Jōnin | previous occupation = Proxy Commander of of the }} }} }} }} Shikamaru Nara (奈良シカマル, Nara Shikamaru) is a jōnin-level shinobi of 's and a former member of . Along with his team-mates; and , Shikamaru is also a member of the new generation of Ino-Shika-Chō, just like their fathers were before them. He acted as the Proxy Commander of of the during the . Following the war he was promoted to jōnin. Background For background information on this character up to the events preceding the Naruto Fanon World War, read . Personality As a genin, Shikamaru Nara was the sort of unenthusiastic kid who liked to watch clouds. He preferred not to get involved in "troublesome" activities, pretending to be busy to avoid responsibility. He is fully aware of this side of his personality. He even named himself "the number one at running away" or "the number one coward". In fact, his most commonly used phrase is "how troublesome" in the Japanese version, and "what a drag" in the English version. However, when duty calls, Shikamaru has a strong moral compass and sense of commitment to his comrades. Even though, by his own testimony, he lacks bravery, he will sacrifice himself and face almost certain death, for the sake of his friends and/or villagers without a second thought. Because of his raw leadership skill, he was the first genin from the Rookie Nine to become a chūnin. The weight of the decisions he must make as a chūnin and, thus, team leader have caused Shikamaru to mature rapidly. This was most evident after the death of Asuma. He vowed to protect and later mentor Asuma's unborn child, so that he could grow up to be a "cool adult" like Asuma. Shikamaru's sense of duty and commitment to the future of his village is also reflected in his willingness to enforce Konoha 11's recent decision to stop Sasuke at all costs, even in the face of potential objections on behalf of the original members of Team 7. Shikamaru loves to play thinking games that older men are usually into, such as shogi and go (His teacher, Asuma, even said at one point "That kid is like an old man. He likes to take things slowly"). He is a brilliant strategist. The Hokage often seeks his advice on defense strategies. Although his former sensei, Asuma Sarutobi, often played against Shikamaru, Asuma had never actually managed to beat him. Asuma became suspicious upon realizing that Shikamaru was so good at board games, despite his abysmal grades. As a result, Asuma administered an IQ test disguised as a game to Shikamaru, which revealed that Shikamaru was beyond a genius, with an IQ of over 200. Sakura once states Shikamaru as being the smartest person in the Land of Fire. During the Chūnin Exams, even the daimyo was impressed by his intelligence and offered him a position as his personal guard. Shikamaru's most distinctive character trait is that he considers most women bossy and "troublesome", particularly Temari, his mother, and Ino. He usually defines them as aggressive, demanding, and sometimes even scary. Given his mother's tyrannical personality, this isn't too surprising. However, his father shares the exact same attitude, even though he married Yoshino in the first place. When Shikamaru questioned his father about why he would marry such a domineering woman, his father responded that even the toughest woman will show her gentle side to the man she loves.6 Nevertheless, Shikamaru is generally courteous to women, doing them favors and avoiding fights with them. He feels that men, like him, should be the ones protecting them and not the other way around. Despite the latter point, he exclusively fought against women during Part I of the manga, albeit because of circumstances that were mostly out of his control. He has expressed a notably mature interest in marriage and raising a family. He hopes to "marry a regular girl who isn't too ugly and not too pretty. Have two children, first a girl, then a boy. Retire after my daughter is married and my son becomes a successful ninja, and spend the rest of my life playing shogi or go. Then die of old age before my wife." Shikamaru has also shown a little devious side. When he gets food for Chōji while he's in the hospital during the Chūnin Exams, the nurse tells him that Chōji has indigestion and that he can't have food. So, Shikamaru goes to Naruto's room to give him the food. When Naruto tells Shikamaru he wants to eat it in front of Chōji to annoy him Shikamaru states "mean... I like it." Appearance To further emphasize his personality, Shikamaru is regularly seen with a lazy or irritated expression. He has fairly long jet black hair tied in a spiky ponytail, narrow brown eyes, and wears ring earrings. During Part I, his attire was rather plain, wearing a fishnet undershirt and a short jacket with his forehead protector worn around his left arm along with his clan's symbol on both of its sleeves and brown/gray pants. After his promotion to chūnin, he wore a flak jacket. During Part II, he has grown noticeably taller. He has also undergone a costume change, sporting a black long sleeved shirt with a fishnet by the wrists and black pants, and changing his earrings from rings to studs. The placement of his headband is the same place. He still wears a chūnin jacket with this. Since Part II, Shikamaru has been equipped with a chūnin's tantō, which he used to try and decapitate Hidan with in the 'Hidan and Kakuzu' arc. Synopsis Great Shinobi World War arc *Will of Fire (GSWW) Still to make appearance *The Tale of the Fire and the Night (GSWW) Abilities Shikamaru does not like fighting, deeming it, as he does most things, "troublesome". His intelligence lends him some help in this regard, such that he is fairly successful at avoiding injuries when he is unable to avoid a battle. Shikamaru's intelligence has earned praise from a number of characters, including the highly experienced Kakashi and Kakuzu. Even the Third Hokage found his abilities to be amazing. By putting his fingers together to create a circle and closing his eyes so he can concentrate, he can quickly think ten moves ahead of his opponent with over a hundred strategies ready to be used, but his real skill is choosing the best one. When he does this, he considers everything that has taken place in the battle up to that point, even discerning how an opponent's techniques work. His teacher, Asuma Sarutobi said that he has the ability to become a Hokage, but he also said that he will be too lazy to want to be Hokage. Shikamaru was also offered a position as one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, though he refused it (despite Asuma's effort of convincing him to take it as a means to widen his perspective) in order to better protect Konohagakure. Shadow Techniques Shikamaru's primary supporting move is the Shadow Imitation Technique. Later, he learned the Shadow Neck Bind Technique, which allows him to physically harm his opponent by means of a shadow hand. After the timeskip, Shikamaru also learned the Shadow Sewing Technique. This is more of an offensive technique, as his shadow can now act almost as a set of tentacles, leaping and twisting out of the air to attack multiple targets. He also shows the ability to simultaneously use all of his techniques in astonishing co-ordination. Shikamaru also inherited Asuma's trench knives after his teacher was killed. He learned to add his shadow to the knives, and created the Shadow Imitation Shuriken Technique. This allows him to "pin" his shadow on an opponent, without the need of the Shadow Imitation Technique, giving him far greater range, flexibility, and the ability to move. When Shikamaru finally had Hidan cornered, he demonstrated the Shadow Endgame Technique. This technique is essentially a shadow summoning, where various tentacles quickly surround an opponent. The second part allows the user to split apart the tentacles, grabbing multiple objects to bind to the trapped victim. This is very effective when used in conjunction with exploding tags, or perhaps other weapons. Trivia *In the Naruto Databook: :*Shikamaru's hobbies are taking naps and playing shogi against formidable opponents. :*Shikamaru desires to fight no one, and always tries to avoid getting into trouble in the first place. :*Shikamaru's favourite foods are mackerel and kelp, his least favorite are boiled eggs. :*Shikamaru has completed 39 official missions in total: 8 D-rank, 3 C-rank, 9 B-rank, 19 A-rank, 0 S-rank. :*Shikamaru's most used phrase is "How troublesome" (面倒くせい, mendōkusei; English TV "What a Drag"). *Shikamaru is my favorite characters from Naruto as among other things his somewhat lazy nature greatly resembles my own. As such he is the character I can relate the most to.